Ron Rosenbaum: LA Times is sitting on a major sex scandal involving a “leading” candidate

posted at 9:16 am on October 31, 2007 by Allahpundit

When the news is slow, we turn to rumor. I linked this in the debate thread last night but it’s interesting enough to warrant its own thread, especially on a dull morning. Let’s see if we can apply some collective intelligence. The only clues are that it involves a “leading” candidate and this:

Now, as I say it’s a rumor; I haven’t seen the supporting evidence. But the person who told me said it offhandedly as if everyone in his world knew about it. And if you look close enough you can find hints of something impending, something potentially derailing to this candidate in the reporting of the campaign. Which could mean that something unspoken, unwritten about is influencing what is written, what we read.

Kaus says he senses something like that too but he also seems not to know what Rosenbaum’s talking about. Ace has some theories but one of his guest-bloggers thinks it’s all crap. If, as Rosenbaum asserts, everyone in the media already knows about it, why hasn’t it leaked? The one thing most people seem to agree on is that it’s probably a Democrat or else the Times wouldn’t be agonizing over publishing it. I think that’s far too cute and easy an assumption; even if they’re diabolically partisan, they have to consider the flak they’ll take from conservatives as being DNC tools and hatchet men if they publish. Not that they’re not used to that sort of thing, but it’ll be much heavier than usual.

I’ve got my own (uninformed) hunch but I won’t say what it is. Suffice it to say, I don’t think it’s a Democrat and I do think Ace is on the right track with one of his scenarios.

Update: After looking around a bit this afternoon, I change my mind. I think it is a Democrat. And it’s as juicy as Rosenbaum says.

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Look, Fred is the one who has the history of being a man whore. And if it is him, it could be that he’s the one who leaked the story. That $8 million that his groupies have donated is just sitting there and it may very well be that it’s burning a hole in his wifes pocket. He has converted campaign funds into a PAC and funneled it to his family once already, so it is not a stretch to think he is looking to do it again.

csdeven on October 31, 2007 at 9:56 AM

FWIW About 3 months ago, Dick Morris was on FOX saying that if Fred Thompson ever got in the race he would be trashed early/easily because of all his colorful baggage.

Actually, I only guessed him, because you said you think it’s GOP, and it seems like everyone has already brought up the other “frontrunners”, and he is kinda becoming a frontrunner.

I guess my other guesses would be an affair between Paul and Kucinich… and or Kucinich and his alien friends (oddly it’s been revealed that they spoke spanish, and the alien’s name was Jose… and that wasn’t a UFO, it was a lawnmower)

Seriously though, I’m not sure, based on process of elimination here (unless you’re just holding out on us, and someone has guessed in this thread), that it would have to be a Democrat.

I wish you could give us a hint (but not tell us, cuz this is fun) what you’re thinking, and what you mean about:

you can find hints of something impending, something potentially derailing to this candidate in the reporting of the campaign.

I’ve always wondered about Hillary’s long-time “closest adviser and confidante”–Patti Solis Doyle. She’s been at Hillary’s side for years and is notoriously press-shy. I’ve always thought Hill and Bill’s marriage was one of convenience, and that they both accept the other sleeping with whomever they want, like a business arrangement. Who believed for a moment that Hillary didn’t know about Bill’s indiscretions? Who believed for a moment that Hillary was truly outraged or hurt by the Monica Lewinsky scandal? She seemed far more angry that he was stupid enough to get caught than that he was doing it in the first place. Any other woman would have been out of that marriage in a heartbeat if it had been a real surprise to her.

So, in other words, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it comes out some day that Hillary is a lesbian. But I don’t think that would hurt her with Democrat voters. The gullible women who plan to vote for her simply because she’s a woman might be shocked and upset, but I don’t think that would slow her down much, either. If being a rapist and adulterer didn’t hurt Bill, how could a long-term, discreet lesbian relationship hurt Hillary?

1) Rudy pretty much has a “get out of sex scandals for free” card. He’s freakin’ Rudy… we expect him to have dressed in drag and snorted coke off of a hooker’s… nevermind. You get the point… if it were about Rudy, it probably wouldn’t be treated like a bombshell… would it?

2) The media can convince itself that anyone is a “leading candidate” if it helps them pimp a story as an important one. Remember how Ted Haggard (is that his name?) was suddenly, according to the media, an ultra important person that all conservatives worshiped?

I just want to repeat part of one of my earlier comments, because I think it’s hilarious (even if I’m the only one), and I’m desperate for a hint from Allah, before I move forward with more serious guesses

I guess my other guesses would be an affair between Paul and Kucinich… and or Kucinich and his alien friends (oddly it’s been revealed that they spoke spanish, and the alien’s name was Jose… and that wasn’t a UFO, it was a lawnmower)

Hmmm. Maybe it’s not Patti Solis Doyle I’m thinking of. I found a picture of her, and she’s young and attractive. The long-time Hillary adviser I’m thinking of is older and masculine-looking. Anyone know who I’m talking about? Maybe I’m delusional. Or maybe Patti Doyle is looking better than she used to.

I recall there being some discussion about Hillary liking the girls as much as Bill does. I could see this as being something everybody (in the elite media) knows about, but they are hesitant to report it.

Good call Aero, rumors had surfaced about some members of Hillaryland having an affinity for the Boss.

I say Huma Aberdeen 32, Clinton’s omnipresent traveling aide. She started in the White House as an intern a decade ago, now Traveling Chief of Staff. I point to her‘cuz she looks like she’s down for a tuna sandwich.

Or, Ann Lewis, 69, a Clinton White House social secretary, who is leading an aggressive outreach to the female voters (ie read lesbo) who are critical to Hillary Clinton’s success.

i scrolled right through all the other comments, so i betcha more than one suggested that if such a story does exist, and the LAT is agonizing over how and whether to run it, it most likely involves serial adultery by the Philanderer-in-Chief, Plurality Bill.

As for the heat the LAT would take from cons about sitting on a story potentially damaging to a Dem, no one on Spring Street thinks that way, as in, no one there bothers to consider what anyone who’s not a lib thinks, so i dont reckon thats any part of their calculations.

Anyway, the real news is that season 2 of Everest-Beyond the Limit debuted last night on Discovery Channel. Riveting stuff.

Do you remember seeing this blind item in the NY Post Page Six “Just Asking” August 27, 2007 — “WHICH political candidate enjoys visiting New York because he has a girlfriend who lives downtown? The pol tells her he’ll marry her when his current wife is out of the picture. The “wife is out of the picture” made me think it might be referring to John Edward’s wife’s grim prognosis. Who knows? It may have been a shallow attempt to shift the focus off the Ann Coulter slur about his sexual preference and make him seem more virile or “Clinton-like” (for those who like smarmy, possibly stuck-in-the-closet-gay men who are trying to prove, even to themselves that they are straight)

-OR-

Was it Barack Obama they were speaking about? I thought back to a speech his wife, Michelle made a couple of weeks earlier when she was questioned about why she travels with her husband. Her answer (below) caused a flurry of speculation that her words were meant as a swipe at Hillary. But I wondered if it wasn’t a veiled warning to an errant husband who wants to be president…

During a speech in Atlantic, Iowa, on Aug. 16, 2007, Michelle Obama said she travels with her husband in part “to model what it means to have family values,” adding “if you can’t run your own house, you can’t run the White House.” It also begs the question, “Is the other part because you can’t trust him to travel alone?”

Then the most curious of all, in an interview with Mrs. Obama in Glamour Magazine’s Oct. ’07 issue, she said something that stuck in my mind WHICH THE MAGAZINE SAW FIT TO ADD one little word (‘if”) AFTER THE MAGAZINE WAS ALREADY OUT This word made a very big difference to anyone paying attention to how the original sounded:
When Michelle Obama was asked, “What do your girls think of you?” She said, “…We have this ritual in the morning. They come in my bed, and Dad isn’t there — because he’s too snore-y and stinky, they don’t want to ever get into bed with him. But we cuddle up and we talk about everything from what is a period to the big topic of when we get a dog: what kind?”

Does that mean Dad isn’t there? in Mom’s bed? Could that mean separate bedrooms? Yes, she quickly added the “snore-y & stinky” part, which seemed a tad hostile/bitter to announce to the world, at the least. Like, she realized she needed to explain why he wasn’t there, but she wasn’t going to make it nice.

My wild speculation was later fueled by the need to explain and correct the printed article with the NEW ONLINE VERSION WHERE THE WORD “IF” WAS INSERTED: “…We have this ritual in the morning. They come in my bed, and IF Dad isn’t there — because he’s too snore-y and stinky, they don’t want to ever get into bed with him. But we cuddle up…”

I hope for their wive’s sakes neither is true. Thankfully, for our country’s sake we haven’t had to deal with such a sleazy marriage in the White House for the last 6 years.

Okay, I think it’s Ann Lewis I’m remembering. The woman who was always standing behind Hillary everywhere she went during the 90s was older, dowdy, wore glasses, and had an unflattering haircut. The “image people” have been working on her–she’s not as masculine-looking as I remember–but I’m pretty sure that’s her.

The original author stated in his article it is not related to the John Edwards rumor floating around.

With his assertion that it is common knowledge in Media circles that puts the focus right on the debate last night when Brian Williams posed the Swift Boat question to Obama.

First the author story breaks about the La Times sitting on a story and then Williams sounds like he could be framing a damage control setup for Obama to blame it on some right wing conspiracy.

Plus a killing field would start from all quarters if Obama was the perp and every interest group would be taking shots at it because of race card plays, minority reverse protection and every other spin zone player you could think of.

Actually I am the way old fashion type and for me if there is any kind of juicy sex story out there I am not concerned with the fact of the story itself so much as concerned that if it is so common knowledge that any spy agency would have plenty of info on the issue and I worry about it from a national security perspective.

So you think the quandary for the LA Times may be do they do the story themselves or do they “leak” it to some lesser entity, so they can claim “it wasn’t us,” but they get all the juicy stuff afterwards? (This conspiracy stuff is so addicting, but I have a pumpkin to carve).

So you think the quandary for the LA Times may be do they do the story themselves or do they “leak” it to some lesser entity, so they can claim “it wasn’t us,” but they get all the juicy stuff afterwards?

They would only leak the name and that they were printing the next day. That would cause people to remember where they heard it first in case it backfires but give the la times the credit for the “investigation” if it’s big.

Has anyone mentioned that Ann Lewis is Barney Fwanks sister?

Rosie’s brother is a butt pirate also. Probably understandable if he grew up seeing her first thing every morning. The brother sister thing of both pairs confuses the nurture/nature debate. It could be used either way.

Do you remember seeing this blind item in the NY Post Page Six “Just Asking” August 27, 2007 — “WHICH political candidate enjoys visiting New York because he has a girlfriend who lives downtown? The pol tells her he’ll marry her when his current wife is out of the picture.

NightmareOnKStreet on October 31, 2007 at 1:13 PM

I always thought Hillary would have been smarter to dump Bill. It would have lessened the baggage by half, and with the sympathy factor, she would have been a shoe-in.

Susan Lewis, 41, the daughter of Ann Lewis–Frank’s sister and a former Clinton aide–was found strangled in her home in early April.

It is amazing how many people have died violent deaths around those people. It can’t be normal odds. My brother had an old girlfriend who was murdered by his ex’s boyfriend. That’s the closest I have come to something like that as far as I know. The clintons must have more then 10 close associates who have died mysterious/violent deaths.